A woman Leon police tried to stop early Wednesday afternoon returned to the southern Butler County town several hours later and rammed her truck into a Leon police vehicle, injuring the reserve police officer behind the wheel.
Officer Stephan Mogolis was treated at the El Dorado hospital for head, neck and back injuries and then released. The woman Mogolis was trying to apprehend, Brandi Stevens, 39, of Leon, was jailed on numerous charges, Leon Police Chief Johnnie Jones said.
Stevens had been forced to stop by another police officer who – during the second pursuit – pulled his vehicle in her way on Main Street. Mogolis was behind her.
She looked back at Mogolis, threw her vehicle in reverse, and crashed into the 1998 GMC utility vehicle he was driving, Jones said.
"Apparently she has some health and mental issues," he said. "We had been in contact with her the last three days because of complaints she had gone into businesses rambling and not making sense."
The woman was taken into protective custody several months ago and spent several weeks in a treatment facility before she was released, according to Jones.
Police received numerous calls Wednesday morning of a suspicious vehicle and reckless driver. About 12:25 p.m., an officer tried to stop Stevens. She fled. The chase was called off when she reached dangerous speeds and because police knew who was driving. They received one report she reached 130 miles an hour on U.S. 400.
At 3:30 p.m., police received a call that Stevens was headed back toward Leon. Mogolis and another officer tried to make contact with her but she took off again. The officers knew there were a group of children playing a few blocks ahead so backed off again, and decided to try to block her at Main and High streets, Jones said.
The pursuit ended when she slammed into the 41-year-old officer’s vehicle. Stevens was booked in jail for aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, two counts of eluding police, two counts of reckless driving and two counts of driving on a suspended license.
The crash was investigated by the Kansas Highway Patrol.